One does not have to be a Cardinal or even a priest. Any baptized Catholic man is eligible to be Pope. So if Silvio was elected as Pope Bunga Bunga I, Catholics all over the world would read about him in the news and sigh, "Well, at least it was a woman."

I don't really know much about Italian politics,( I live in England, curiously the British media, in particular the BBC are obsessed to the point of tedium with the pettifogging details of US politics, whilst almost totally ignoring the politics of our erstwhile European partners, not just Italy, but our most important market, Germany).Saying all that, I've little doubt that a huge conspiracy is against Berlusconi, by the chattering classes, I mean anyone who gets vilely attacked by 'The Economist' on a weekly basis has to be a good guy, right? What is never, ever mentioned apropos Berlusconi is that his main enemies are some pretty disgusting communists. Real red flag, marxist communists, not the cartoon versions, as we all know Italy had the biggest communist party in the free world and they wielede power and did a lot of very nutty things (as communists are wont to do). For example Italy has endured England style national destruction through 'open border' uncontrolled immigration and many, many 'amnesties', amnesties that look Reagan look like an amateur. Furthermore Berlusconi has stood up to the bully-boys of the EU, rightly saying that the stanationist policies imposed by the EU are ruining Italy. For that act of temerity the eurocrats are baying for his blood. Berlusconi represents in many ways the typical (northern) Italian male, quick witted, wheeler-dealing, with a pretty sharp mind and eye for the main chance. Gregarious but perhaps superficail and inconstant and with a fatal weakness for the ladies, with opportunism and deal making the watchwords rather than heavy-set bombastic, relentless Germanic dogmatism.

Leftists whine when it's not one of their own who's doing the bunga bunga. When French socialist president Mitterand died, they cooed on how urbane it was that his wife and mistress could both attend his burial without fallout from those judgmental, religious nutjobs. Clinton got a pass on all his indiscretions by the feminists most of all, who turned on the women done wrong by him. Heck, Italy elected a porn star (Cicciolina - look up her "Politcal Woman" video on YouTube) who campainged as a porn star, and who did her usual boob dump in Parliament from time to time, no complaint from the chatting classes.

Berlusconi knows he's the only thing keeping Italy from Cuban style communist abyss, and so can carry on and the Catholic church and conservatives have to shut up and overlook it.

Whether the person is good or bad, people love their "great man," "magnificient bastard," whatever term you need. The guy of whom they can still admire his method even if he's damaging them with it. Pericles, DeGaulle, Peron, Castro, Berlusconi, Hitler, Stalin, Roosevelt, Ghandi, Mandela, if it wasn't for their sprezzatura and panache, they'd have been ground down by the political machine, but doubling down on whatever bugged their opponent seems to have sped them out of danger.

Conservatives need to remember that. When Ollie North was being harranged by Congress, instead of apologizing, he would almost say he was wrong by not going 10x harder than what they accused him of, and his star rose to where the leftists couldn't end the hearings quickly enough. Even Fawn Hall got her fame out of simply shredding paper for him, the ultimate fame by frottage.

Stalin panache? If anything it is the exact opposite Trotksy had the panache, but wasn't interested in doing the paperwork so Stalin out manuvered him. You are confusing personality cult and panache. Berscuilionni has panache but no personality cult (he doesn't really have that much panache anymore either but apparently betas love his lounge lizzard act so let's pretend he does) Stalin had a personality cult but little panache other than an obscene brutality.

"...anyone who gets vilely attacked by 'The Economist' on a weekly basis has to be a good guy, right?"

Damn right. Silvio is my hero. Bunga bunga with the young babes, talks sense about the EUSSR, beats back the gypsies and Africans and -- the real source of the chattering class panic -- controls his own media empire and cuts back the politically-correct public broadcasters. What's not to like?

I think libertarians would be in love with Italians for their near pathological distrust of their government so much so that it is said that Italians have one set for accounts for the taxman, one to show his wife and one for himself.

I think it was David Goldman or perhaps Theodore Dalrymple who noted that Italians were less affected by the financial crisis because their real economy is a hidden one as they are notorious tax dodgers and most companies are family owned.Which is the reason why Italian companies rarely go public as that would compel them to be more transparent.

And they cant have that.

I think too many commentators in Italy put stock in the Roman Empire though ignore the far more pervasive influence of the Austro Hungarian hegemony.

Has a Sicilian ever achieved high office? The mainlands contempt for them knows no bounds. Perhaps part of it is their skin color.

I remember Scorsese mentioning in an interview that he never left Little Italy(which was filled with Sicilians and Southern Italians) until he went to NYU and that was the first time he saw a blonde in real life.

While Hollywood is in love with dark,brooding actors like Pacino and DeNiro, Italians themselves went out of their way to promote their blonde hotties like Virna Lissi(perhaps most known for costarrign with Jack Lemmon in How to Murder Your Wife)

Well, Berlusconi winning means Italy's bond interest go up because the markets distrust him in solving Italy's issues. This means more trouble for Italy, more rescue operations by EU to save Euro, more taxes for Germans, Dutch, Austrians and Finns and continued recession, misère for everyone in the eurozone.

Has a Sicilian ever achieved high office? The mainlands contempt for them knows no bounds. Perhaps part of it is their skin color.

More likely their poverty, rurality, southern-ness, and perceived lack of culture. Sicily and Southern Italy provide most of the Italian American stock, but are a marginal part of Italy itself (its Appalachia or white Alabama).

Italy only became a unified nation-state in 1861. A big chunk of the north (Venice) wasn't incorporated until 1866. France wasn't kicked out of Rome and the Papal states until 1870. Universal male suffrage did not exist until 1913.

Maybe Italy has too much history to really be a cohesive nation-state. But it seems to plod along as a non-cohesive nation-state.

Well, Berlusconi winning means Italy's bond interest go up because the markets distrust him in solving Italy's issues. This means more trouble for Italy, more rescue operations by EU to save Euro, more taxes for Germans, Dutch, Austrians and Finns and continued recession, misère for everyone in the eurozone.

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